


A fantastic life

by Syven



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 10:11:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11228817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syven/pseuds/Syven
Summary: Originally written on 07/16/2006. Age of Steel and beyond, past Doomsday.





	A fantastic life

Dusk fell around her slowly, as if a dark curtain were being pulled across the summer sky. The wooden bench beneath her grew colder but the young woman ignored it as she hunched down deeper into the protection of her thick jacket. Looking out over the river, she didn’t hear him approach until the bench creaked as his weight settled on the seat beside her. The smell of his comforting after-shave wafted on the breeze to her and she smiled sadly despite herself.

“I’m sorry, you know.” He whispered, reaching out to lay his warm hand on her cold one. “It was too much for me to handle and I’m sorry for hurting you.”

“What are you…” She mumbled bleakly.

His hand squeezed hers. “The first time you were here, after we got out of the factory, after Jacks died… You tried to get me to see, to understand and I just walked away. I’m sorry.”

“You do love her, don’t you? You’re not just forgetting who she is, are you?” Rose questioned with a sudden burst of ferocity.

He sighed. “I’ve thought about that a lot, love. More since we found out the baby was on its way. Yes, I do love your mother and I know she’s not my Jacks but in a way, she is. Most of the time, I have to remind myself that this isn’t just a dream. She and I, it’s like it was before all the money and fame went to my Jacks head… except… now I have the daughter I did always want…”

The sob erupted from deep inside her body and she couldn’t stop it. She allowed him to gather her up and she cried on his shoulder for a few minutes as he rocked her gently, making soothing, comforting noises. Finally, the tired sobs turned into weary sniffles and the older man handed her a handkerchief from his pocket. She looked up at him in confusion and had to chuckle wryly when he shrugged resignedly.

“Pregnant women cry a lot, it seems.”

She nodded thoughtfully, blowing her nose loudly enough to make them both laugh softly.

“I’m also not sorry I went back for you and I hope someday you can stop hating me for it. I’m not sorry, love. You would have died.”

“I don’t hate you.” She sniffed morosely. 

His arms tightened around her body slightly. “You’re a bad liar, Rose.”

She sighed softly, laying a hand on his arm tenderly. “I did, at first, yeah. But I don’t anymore. You did save my life and even though there are moments when I wish you hadn’t, I don’t hate you for it.”

He gently leaned her head back to his shoulder and stroked her hair. “I know right now it hurts so much, you believe that, Rose. But it does get better. It does hurt less.”

“When?” She whispered, her voice quivered and the tears began welling up again.

His hand stopped moving and he pulled her away just enough to look into her eyes. “It starts when you stop feeling sorry for yourself, love.”

Trying to shrug off his embrace, she bit out angrily. “Oh, and you know that do you?”

“Yeah, I do.” He replied harshly, frowning at her.

“It’s not the same.” She grumbled miserably.

He released her now, swiftly standing and shoving his hands deep into his pockets. “Of course not. Because what you lost was so much more than what the rest of us lost, yeah? Because the rest of us couldn’t possibly have loved anyone as much as you do.”

“That’s not…”

“Yes, yes, it is.” He declared angrily. “That’s exactly what you meant. I know, Rose. I know because that’s how I felt after my Jacks died when my friends tried to console me. Yeah, that’s exactly how I felt, Rose.”

“Oh.” She sounded as if the wind had been knocked out of her lungs. “Oh.”

He spun around to face her. “And how do you think your mum felt when she lost her Pete, yeah? 20 years, Rose. She couldn’t just shut out the world, she had a baby to take care of.”

“I didn’t…”

“No, you didn’t, Rose. Love, I’m not saying there is anything wrong with feeling that way for a little while. It’s something we all face but then we move on…” He knelt before her and took her chin in his hand, raising her eyes to meet his gaze. “We move on, Rose.”

Fear shone brightly in her eyes. “He could find a way. It’s not the same, he’s alive out there, somewhere.”

Pulling her to her feet, Pete curled his arm across her shoulders and gently guided her down the canal walkway. “When he told me about your mum, after my Jacks died, I fought those feelings, too, love.” 

“I’m sorry, Pete.” She whispered, slipping her arm behind his back to settle around his waist. “You and mum have been trying so hard and I’ve only been thinking of myself.”

“It gets easier, sweetheart.” He kissed the top of her head. “I know it hurts right now but you have to stop holding onto the pain. I know you are afraid that if you let go of the pain, that you’ll forget but I promise you – you won’t. You won’t ever forget.”

The lights of the Tyler estate came into view and Rose blew her nose once more before tucking it in her pocket. Taking a deep breath, she said. “For a bloke who didn’t have a daughter, you sure do clean up well when you have one.”

Pete smiled down at her and cupped her cheek in his hand. “Is it too late to hope you can forgive me, love?”

Rose pulled him into a fierce hug, mumbling into his jacket. “It’s too late ‘cause I’ve already forgive you… Dad.”

 

One year later…

 

“Oi! Pete’s calling, Rose.” Mickey tossed the compact mobile phone across the tomb entrance into Rose’s waiting hand. She shouldered her weapons and pushed her goggles up as she lifted the device to her ear.

“What’s up, Dad?” She smirked at Mickey, taking the opportunity to clown around by making faces at him in an attempt to elicit a laugh but only succeeded in making Jake crack up instead. Mickey put his finger to his lips to quiet him but Jake just laughed harder at the scowl on Mickey’s face.

“We’re getting abnormally high levels of beta radiation on the read-outs, love. Maybe you three should wait for the enviro-suits to take the lead.” His tone held a thin layer of worry.

“We’ve got those readings on the hand-held, yeah, but Jake thinks these new bio filters of his will hold up and I agree.” Rose rolled her eyes at Jake who puffed up comically at his mention.

“Okay, love. It’s your teams call. If you think it’s okay, you have a go.” Pete replied. “Oh, and your mum wanted me to ask if you three will be home in time for dinner tonight.”

Rose mouthed the word “dinner” to Mickey and Jake and both men nodded enthusiastically. With a laugh, she relayed the information to Pete. Closing the phone, she tossed it back to Mickey and brought her goggles and filters back into place. The two men did the same and hefted their weapons cautiously. Mickey gestured out of series of movements and Jake slipped quietly into the darkness, followed by Mickey with Rose bringing up the rear.

Later that night, the three young friends laughed together over dinner as Pete and Jackie looked on contently. The baby monitor sat inconspicuously on the buffet behind Jackie but the new parents, to their credit, did not glance anxiously at it even once. 

When the kitchen staff cleared the plates away, Jake raised a glass of wine and they all looked to him expectantly. “Here’s to the Doctor.”

Pete shot a worried look to Jackie, who grimaced and held her breath. Jake continued, looking across the table at Rose. “He saved both our worlds and brought us together – the family I never had. Gone but not forgotten.”

Rose took a deep breath, smiled and lifted her glass in salute. Everyone else followed suit. One by one, each of them repeated it. “Gone but not forgotten.”

Slowly, they moved the gathering into the library where the fireplace cast a comforting glow into the room. Rose and Mickey relaxed against each other companionably on the leather sofa as they gave Pete their mission reports. Jake and Jackie stole out to the balcony so Jake could have a quick smoke. It was a beautiful, clear summer night and the sky was a blanket of sparkling stars above them.

Rose wandered out, slipping an arm around both their waists and sighed contently. “Such a beautiful night… reminds me of… well, you know…”

Jake rested his head against hers. “I didn’t mean to dredge anything up, love.”

“You didn’t, Jake. It was really nice, what you did. I won’t lie, it still stings a little but what he was to us was good and we shouldn’t forget that.”

“Rude, he was.” Jackie snorted.

Rose laughed loudly. “Yeah, he was. Probably still is.”

Jackie laid her head on Rose’s shoulder. “Probably still is.” With a squeeze, she slipped back into the library to perch on the arm of Pete’s chair.

“I always wanted a little sister, you know.” Jake released his hold on Rose and leaned against the balcony rail.

Rose put her back against it so she could face the interior, watching Mickey chat animatedly with Pete while Jackie looked on. “Now you have two, yeah.” She smiled. “You know what they say. Be careful what you wish for…”

“You really are alright, love?” His voice was low and full of concern.

“Well, alright is a pretty relative term, Jake, but yeah, I’m good and it gets easier every day.”

His head dropped. “I still miss Rickey.”

“Good.” Rose declared strongly, turning back to him. “Jake, it’s okay to miss them. It’s okay to talk about them and it’s okay to move on and be happy. Don’t feel guilty for that, yeah. Rickey would be happy to see you now… The Doctor would be happy to see us now… We’re living the one adventure he could never have.”

“What?” Jake laughed. “Working for a secret government agency in charge of investigating alien phenomena?”

“Actually, I think he’s done that.” Rose laughed with him, snuggling against his side. The young pair quieted their laughter down after a minute and she continued softly. “Having a loving family, Jake. Whatever happened to him in the past, he could never let himself have this, no matter how much he wanted it.”

“When did you get to so smart, Rose Tyler?” Jake smiled affectionately at her. “Would you… would you go back now, if you could?”

“If you asked me that six months ago, I’d have said yes without hesitation but now… when it all happened… Jake, I felt like my life… my heart was ripped out of me…” Rose’s voice drifted off as she looked to the stars.

Jake was about to prod her when she gave her head a shake and continued. “But my Dad… he woke me up… he made me see what I was doing… to myself… to my family… No, Jake - To answer your question, not now… I threw away my family and friends once already for the wrong, selfish reasons… I’ve grown up… What I have here with mum and dad, you, the baby, Mickey… No, I wouldn’t give that up for anything.”

The young man pulled her into a tight embrace. “I worry, you know. Oh, not when we’re out on mission. No, I worry when we’re here… that one-day… I’m going to come out on this balcony and I’ll look down and there will be a blue box on the walk below… that I’ll go looking for you and you’ll be gone and I’ll run outside and the box will be gone and I’ll never see you again.”

She hugged him back. “You don’t have to worry about that, Jake. Not anymore.” She looked up to see Jackie standing in the doorway like a deer frozen in headlights, her eyes wide with apprehension. Rose held out a hand to her and pulled her mother into the hug. “None of you have to worry about that anymore.”

The baby monitor squeaked just then and Jackie moved to go and check but Rose stopped her. Bounding up the staircase, Rose let herself into the nursery. The baby lay sleeping peacefully, her tiny hands curled on her chest in a silent stance against an unseen opposition. Rose closed the windows and pulled the crib blanket up around the infant, tucking it in gently.

Watching her new little sister sleeping, she brushed her fingertips tenderly across the infant’s cheek. “We’re going to have a fantastic life, Jacks.” A soft, wistful smile grew on her face. “A really fantastic life.”

 

The end.


End file.
